


A snowed in mage and lion

by charliepoet13



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Fluff, snowed in trope, supportive friends, winter fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28434471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charliepoet13/pseuds/charliepoet13
Summary: When what was supposed to be a day out with friends is thwarted by an intense snowstorm, Lucy needs to think of other things to keep her mind occupied. Thankfully Loke is more than happy to keep her company.
Relationships: Lucy Heartfilia/Loke
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	A snowed in mage and lion

**Author's Note:**

> It's almost time for 2021! Here's to a much better year!

There was nothing more satisfying than waking up after a peaceful night's sleep, especially when it was the first one in a long time. After months on end of guild jobs and writers obligations, the Christmas season was a welcome excuse to relax, if only slightly. There were still jobs to take of course but she’d actually convinced other teams to handle them, that over the next few days they should rest and recharge. If there was actual danger to the world they’d jump on it, but for now…

She stretched, a sleepy yet satisfied smile on her face. It was nice to not have to rush anywhere, to be able to take her time and laze in bed if she wanted to. She laid there for what could have been five minutes but could have also been an hour, time was hazy in a bed, before she finally decided she was awake enough to get up.

“S’pose I’d better get dressed. Levy’s not gonna wait forever after all”

She took her time going through her morning ritual, pleased by the peace and quiet outside. It seemed that for once Magnolia had also decided to relax, a pleasant and welcome change in her book. She could feel the motivation bubbling up within her, today was going to be a great day, a productive day! The feeling reached its height as she finally finished getting ready, clean and clothed and ready to tackle anything that could be thrown at her. She threw open her living room curtains, full of energy and vigor..

...Only for it to all immediately drain away when she saw the white wall billowing down from the heavens. She normally didn’t mind snow, it could be lovely to look at but this was no mere light flurry. She was definitely snowed in and there was going to be no way to get anywhere without some fire magic. Of course the only fire mage that would seek her out lived far out of town and was probably enjoying himself, so he wasn’t going to show up soon. Though there was probably no point in trying to do anything until the onslaught of snow stopped.

She sighed, moving away from the window and slumping down at her desk. She was going to be stuck at home all day wasn’t she? It would have been nice to relax with her friends. Her gaze went to her keys, her spirits could help her plow through the snow right? Horologium could even protect her as they went. A great idea in theory but was it really fair to put her friends through that hell just to end up at an empty guild? If the others had any sense they’d stay at home. Besides they all probably had their own festive preparations to make... 

She shook her head, slapping her cheeks to force herself out of the funk she was falling into.

“No time to be down, I can just work on my book! That’s still being productive! My editor will appreciate it anyway…”

She trailed off, sentence fading off into mumbling at the mention of her deadlines. Yes it was probably for the best that she stayed home today, so that everyone's sanity stayed in check. Cautiously her motivation started to crawl back, directed towards the pages on her desk. With uncalled for enthusiasm she grabbed her pen and started the joy and pain that was writing a sequel you never thought you’d get.

She’d managed to write, cross out and rewrite the same paragraph about five times before disaster decided to rear its ugly head once more. Stress was already starting to sneak in and leave her frustrated with her sudden fight with words, but then the lights just had to flicker and go out. She couldn’t stop the groan that escaped her as she leaned back in the chair, dreading what this meant.

“I’m supposed to be Lucky Lucy...surely this couldn’t be that bad right?”

Tentatively, she slowly stood up. It wouldn’t be ideal but she could still write by the small amount of daylight coming through the windows, that was fine. No, what she was really dreading was-

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me”

Her harsh tone revealed her spike in annoyance as her hand touched her heater, feeling it start to cool down, it had also been shut off. That suggested it was more than just the lights, that all power had been shut off, was the snow that bad it was disrupting everything? Now this would need to be fixed on top of the snow needing to be removed, Fairytail was definitely going to be busy later, herself no doubt included.

A small shiver of guilt went through her as she groaned in frustration. Yes she would be absolutely willing to help out her lovely home, but they couldn’t blame her for not wanting to be out in the extreme cold right? 

As if the mere thought of being out in that deep snow froze her, she started to shiver, the cooling air doing nothing for her normal, casual wear. Grumbling to herself she rubbed at her arms, mood rapidly deteriorating with the mental image of clearing all that mess. Still, her friends would make it fun for her, they always managed to put a smile on her face, her team especially could always warm up her soul, which will hopefully in turn warm her body. 

Her thoughts tumbled and shifted direction to her friends, a nice distraction from her current situation. Erza could still thankfully spend the day with the other girls of Fairy hills. They’d probably be spending the day in one of their rooms, keeping each other company. In fact Wendy had Carla, Natsu had Happy and she would bet money Juvia had found some way to get to Gray, the end of the world couldn’t stop that woman from seeing her true love at least once a day. Right, all her friends would be fine and she’d see them tomorrow, hopefully Levy would forgive her for skipping out on their day together.

“Still...what do I do until then?”

Gloom overcame her as she slumped down at her desk. Her pen touched an empty piece of paper but her hand produced nothing but scribbles. All of a sudden, writing all day didn’t seem so appealing, motivation draining rapidly as all her bright ideas seemed to have disappeared, blown away with the snow. Her head touched the wood as she mumbled to herself, trying to motivate herself, she was an adult, she should be better than this and yet-

“Are you ok princess?”

She shot up in her chair, back of her head bumping against something that wasn’t there a second ago. She tilted her head up, looking up into a pair of mirthful eyes and a bemused smile.

“Loke? What are you doing here?”

His arms came down to wrap around her, hugging her the best he could in this position. Normally she would have shrugged him off, but she couldn’t deny the desire to steal his warmth for herself.

“Well I could feel that you were a little sombre so I decided to come see if you were ok. I’m not surprised you’re sad though, it’s freezing in here, are you tormenting yourself or something?”

She sighed, nodding her head to the window.

“We’re currently in the middle of a snowstorm, everything just switched off. So trust me, my current condition wasn’t my choice”

He followed her direction, peeking out the window before letting out a low whistle. The snow hadn’t let up, if anything it seemed to somehow be coming down harder.

“I can see your problem. Well you’re obviously not going anywhere so why don’t you change into something warmer?”

A small sigh escaped her as she finally gave in to his hold and leaned back into him. 

“I guess a part of me was holding onto hope I’d be going out anyway”

“Yeah not a chance, not at the moment...Tell ya what, you go change and I’ll get something to help warm you up”

Suspicion rose up within her, from anyone else that would have been a sweet offer, but this was the king of flirts she was dealing with here, it was better to tread careful ground. Her thoughts must have showed up on her face because he shook his head.

“Nothing like that Lucy, I genuinely want to help you, I’m trying to be kind, not flirtatious. Though I am happy to start flirting if that’s what you want”

He was way too quick on that, she wasn’t sure she could believe in such easy words from him. How could he mean them when they flowed from him with such ease, with no thought? She snorted, getting up and breaking from his hold.

“I’m fine thanks. But you are right about one thing, I should get changed into something warmer, feel free to do whatever it is you’re planning”

“Thank you for your permission princess, I shall see you in a moment. I shall try not to miss you, but every moment away from your radiance is pure agony”

“Yeah yeah, off you go before I change my mind”

His smile was annoyingly confident as he vanished, returning home for the moment. An involuntary shiver ran through her at the loss of heat. Reminded of her mission she quickly made her way to her bedroom to scour her wardrobe for the warmest thing she owned.

She returned some time later in a fluffy winter pajama set, it was light blue with a snowflake pattern, not that you could see it under her large dressing gown. Feeling much better, or at least much warmer, she plodded over to her couch to sit there and try to take in what little heat was left in the room. To distract herself her mind wandered to her strange guest, just what was he doing here anyway? Was it really just for her? They could sense each other's thoughts and feelings if they tried thanks to their bond, maybe he genuinely was worried for her? If that was true then she supposed she could be a generous host, it was only fair after all, besides, she may not admit this to him, but she was glad for the company. She had been starting to feel a little-

He reappeared suddenly, cutting off her thoughts before they got too dour. He had changed from his normal suit and tie into a warm, dark green jumper. It was probably too much to ask him to wear a knitted sweater, though it’d be a funny sight. In his hands he held a steaming mug of what she assumed was hot chocolate, if the large dollop of whipped cream and generous sprinkling of marshmallows was anything to go by. Just the thought of a warm, sweet drink calmed her fraying nerves. She beamed up at him, ready to thank him, but the words died on her tongue at his expression on his face. He was frozen, no doubt half way through a quip, his expression one of unhidden awe. She shied away under his joyful gaze, feeling heat start to rise in her cheeks, but not the kind she had wanted,

“What is it?”

He seemed to snap out of his trance at her words, though he was still grinning like a loon. 

“Sorry, you’re just so cute you caught me off guard. That outfit looks super adorable on you”

“They’re my pajamas Loke”

“And you rock that look”

“Drink please, or leave”

“Right, right sorry. As cosy as you are, I’m certain this will help” He unceremoniously sat beside her, a little too closely for her liking, to place the mug in front of her. “One Celestial lion special, made to order for my diamond“

Normally she’d shoot back with something witty, push him back, but perhaps her brain had frozen, or turned to mush with the rising heat flowing through her body. She took the mug silently, trying to hide her expression. Unfortunately for her he picked up on her discomfort, getting the very wrong idea.

“Perhaps it’s not just your clothes that are leaving you rosy cheeked hmm? Do you enjoy my presence that much? Why I’m honoured”

He had no right to look so smug, a smirk so infuriatingly prideful she wanted to punch it off. But that would disrupt her precious drink, so she’d have to compromise with sending him her best unimpressed glare, it didn’t give her much satisfaction and he didn’t seem too perturbed by it. She sighed as she sipped on the drink, chocolatey and peppermint sweetness lit up her taste buds, a sense of coziness overtook her as she relaxed back, indulging herself in another sip, which soon became another gulp. She couldn’t help herself, it was like the liquid was travelling through her entire body, melting away all her stress and worries.

“Enjoying that?”

She ignored his amused tone, focused on her stress and chills melting away, surely this couldn’t just be sugar, did Celestial chocolate contain something else? She’d have to ask him. She finished it down in one last sigh of pleasure, wiping away the cream on her lips and fishing out some stray marshmallows from the bottom of the cup. It probably wasn’t the most dignified she could be, but it was only Loke watching her, so it didn’t seem to matter so much.

“You gonna answer me now?”

“...Yeah this was nice, thank you”

Such a small compliment shouldn’t have caused him to light up like a christmas tree, and yet here he was, nearly trembling with excitement as he took the cup from her, making it vanish with his magic.

“Yeah?! I made it myself so I’m glad you enjoyed it”

Oh? Even if all he did was add hot water to some powder, it was sweet of him to take the time to make it instead of just using magic. Though that did bring back her earlier thoughts.

“Is it a special brand? It tasted different to any other I’ve tried.”

“Well, it did have an unique ingredient”

“What?”

By the time she registered his coy smile it was too late, she had fallen into his trap.

“Love. I poured all of my love for you into it”

He leaned in closer, apparently rather proud of that line, even when all it did was elicit a groan from her. She wasn't going to get a straight answer from this man, she wasn't even completely sure why he was on Earthland to begin with.

“That was the worst one yet. Really now, you don’t have anything else to be doing this time of the year?”

“Other than making you smile? No, not really”

"Not what I meant and you know it"

"I genuinely don't! The Celestial end of year party is all well prepared for. I’d just be lounging around and I’d much rather be here with you”

“There’s not exactly much to do here you know?”

“Well then, I’d rather lounge around bored with a dear friend. Wouldn’t you? It’s not pleasant to be lonely...”

He scooted closer, resting gently against her. It surprisingly wasn’t a flirty move, rather one to illustrate his point. Had he really picked up on that? From the Celestial Spirit world? Why was she surprised? He’d always been more sensitive than the others to her emotions and was the one most likely to try and help. He’d always been like that, even when he was terrified of getting too close to her...Just this once, because he was being so thoughtful, she’d indulge him ( there was no way she was going to admit he was right).

“I guess I wouldn’t mind you hanging around, despite everything you are a dear friend to me too”

“What do you mean ‘despite everything’?”

It was too much, the over the top offended look, desperately trying to mask his delight, the way he huffed and crossed his arms like a child. She laughed. Loud and unyielding, she bent over with the force of it. It was hard to explain how much he relaxed her, removed all her worries and stresses, but he was one of few people who could bring her such joy, whole silliness she actually appreciated. How he could infuriate yet charm her was a mystery, just like the man himself, but one she was more than willing to spend time trying to figure out. 

“Will you ever stop laughing at me?”

She paused, tilting her head in thought, letting her mischievous plans show in her eyes. 

“Maybe. When you stop making a fool of yourself”

He let out a huff of air, brain chugging along for a comeback, he looked kinda cute like that, she bet she could-

A loud whistling and banging reminded them of the snow outside, effectively ruining the moment they’d created.

_ Wait a minute, what moment?! _

She pulled her traitorous hand back, annoyed that she was apparently about to ruffle his hair or something like that. How dare her body decide to do something like that on it’s own! For all she knew he’d take it the wrong way and-

A sliding noise caught her attention and made her realise Loke was no longer beside her. She watched, slightly confused, as he went around closing all the curtains, blocking the sight of the snow. When he was done he turned to her, looking for all the world like he was about to beg for praise.

“There, now we can ignore all that mess easier”

“...While I appreciate the intention, there’s a small problem of light”

The small amount of light that made it through the snow was the only thing keeping the room even slightly bright, without it, the room was darkened with shadows and she could only just make out her spirit’s form across the room.

“I think you’re forgetting what my element is my love, but don’t worry about it. I’ll put on a show for you”

The moment he finished speaking small dozens balls of light appeared on his fingertips. With a small upward motion of his hand the balls floated softly through the air, rising up to the ceiling before spreading out and to fully light everything up. It was as if a sunny day had decided to shine down on her living room alone. No, perhaps not the sun, in this case, more like a small makeshift constellation had blessed her home.

“They’re lovely Loke”

She was being honest, the little lights looked spectacular. His chest puffed out at her kind words, eagerly taking the praise and running with it.

“My light will always be there to chase away the dark, especially any that tries to scare or hurt you. I’m hopeful that they may provide a little warmth too, as slight as it may be”

She hadn’t thought about that, but if they could raise the temperature even a little bit she’d be thankful.

”That would be nice...but honestly, I’ll just enjoy looking at them. They’re very pretty, like floating decorations''   
Very appropriate for the season actually. She gave a slight nod in approval, doing to her best to not stare at his wide, toothy smile, threatening to outshine the very lights he’d created.

“Decorations huh? Then perhaps they should look something more like this”

With a wave of the hand, several of the lights came together, before spreading out and forming the shape of a heart on her ceiling. She did her best to not look impressed, there was no need to encourage him, or allow him to think his grand gestures actually worked.

“Maybe, but isn’t a heart a bit generic? I'd prefer to decorate my home with something more personal"

"Is that a challenge?"

"If you think you're up for it”

“Oooohh I’m definitely up for it, watch this”

He raised his hands to the ceiling, focusing his magic. In response, the lights split into halves, then quarters, becoming smaller and dimmer. He focused on a cluster and pushed them to move, forming a shape in the air. She let out an amused chuckle at his cheekiness when he was done.

“A lion? Really?”

“Cute isn’t he? But I’m not done yet”

The rest of the lights moved, forming different pictures on her ceiling. She looked up in awe as each revealed itself. A sheep, a bull, an amphora and so on. Soon there was a small picture representing each of her spirits made with his light decorating her home. It was beautiful to look at and she took a moment just to appreciate it, he’d even represented her silver key spirits, with a small dog that represented Plue absolutely being the cutest, regardless of what he thought. With a big grin she turned to thank him for this precious gift when the words died on her tongue. He was doing his best to look casual, but he was breathing deeper than normal. He was also leaning forward, albeit slightly and something seemed off about him.

“...Are...Are you ok Loke?”

“Huh?” A genuine look of confusion swept across him before he sighed and shook his head. “Not the first thing I thought you’d say but off course you’d notice. I’m fine. It might be hard to believe but controlling my light in such a precise way actually takes up a lot of energy, perhaps even more than when I’m just blasting out energy with Regulus impact or something. It takes a lot of concentration anyway, so it just tires me out a little.”

He waved her off, clearly looking for praise rather than worry, but she couldn’t help caring, especially not when her ‘special friend’ was pushing himself so hard for the sake of her happiness. To have given her such a gift and to have chased away her loneliness, it was only fair to repay his kindness with some of her own. 

She walked over to him, standing as close as she dared, as she gave him her best warm smile.

“Thank you Loke, they light up the room like nothing else ever could. They’re a lovely reminder of my family in the stars and one that I needed. But please don’t push yourself too hard for me, I don’t want you to get ill or something for my sake”

“I can't promise that Lucy, not when I live and breathe to see you smile”

She sighed, leaning into him and allowing him to wrap an arm around her. She could feel him vibrating with excitement at such a simple touch, or maybe he was just tired. Either way, with a slight tug on his shoulder from her, he leaned his head on hers, joining her in appreciating his work.

“I guess if you’re going to work yourself so hard, I’m forced to have to keep an eye on you, for safety reasons you understand.”

There was a brief moment of silence as he thought up what to say, wavering between caution and excitement.

“Is that an invitation to visit more often?”

“It is. But only so I know you’re not overtaxing yourself, alright?”

“Of course, and if we so happen to just hang out and have fun on these so called check up visits?”

“Well...then that’s all the better for you isn’t it? You can't be hurting yourself if you’re having fun. If I must take you on trips around Magnolia then I shall. It’s what a good Celestial mage and friend would do”

And would it really be so bad to go on outings with him? Despite how annoying he could be, he really was good fun. He was kind and knew to respect her boundaries, it’d be great to find out more about what made him tick. She could almost pretend it was like a date or something, not that he’d be allowed to know that.

“Hmmm, if I didn’t know any better my sweet, I’d say you were coming up with convenient excuses to hide behind”

“Well I’m not, I’m just looking out for my friend”

“Right...well thank you, I’ll take you up on that offer. Feel free to call on me at least once every day”

“Hang on a second” Her expression turned incredulous and she hoped he could see it, she wasn’t about to move and break away from this contact just yet, despite her words. “Who said it would be that frequent?”

“Well, how can you possibly effectively keep an eye on me otherwise? No, the only thing for it is to see me every possible day. I’ll obviously make exceptions for missions and important events but otherwise, why not?”

“...You’re taking advantage of the situation”

He moved his head off of hers, before leaning around so they were face to face and she could see his smug grin up close.

“No, I think I’m just playing by the rules you’ve set out for this little game Lucy. I think you’ll find I’ll be much better at it. You aren’t the only one who can hide how they feel behind excuses”

Was that a challenge?! No more importantly how did he have her so well figured out? Why did none of her easy lies affect him or throw him off the trail? He really was too good at this.

“It’s not my fault you’re such an old fossil that you have a head start on me. I’d watch out if I were you, if you slack off I’ll catch up”

“...An-An old fossil?”

Shame and mortification sunk through her, slumping her shoulders and making her stomach feel heavy. By the stars she'd spoken her thoughts out loud, may they strike her down if they had any mercy. But proving that they didn’t, she was still there a few seconds later when he started giggling, hand clasped to his mouth as he tried to keep it in. He wasn’t completely successful if the shaking of his shoulders was anything to go by. Her mortification rose and she could feel it stain her cheeks. Despite the fact she’d accidentally spoken out she felt the intense need to defend herself.

“What?! What’s the problem?”

He struggled to calm down, only speaking up after a few more agonising seconds of laughing into his hands.

“N-nothing my diamond it’s just… I’ve been called many a thing, by myself and others. Old is not one of them, you caught me off guard is all. Though your point is a good one, even if you presented it in such a crass manner. I do have more experience when it comes to humans and manipulating words, though this just means I get the pleasure of watching you catch up and one day actually manage to trip me up. Honestly being your victim isn’t something I’d mind so much, especially if it’s a victim of love”

His small wink at the end wasn’t entirely appropriate, yet it wasn’t exactly unappreciated either. That damned lion. 

“And who's to say you’ll ever become caged in my love? Perhaps you’ll even grow to regret such imprisonment”

“Nah, not a chance. I’ll play this game with you until the stars burn out. Not just because it’s entertaining, which is a factor, but because I’m willing to wait for you to lay the trap Lucy. Once it is I will willingly walk in, for you already have me in shackles my love, you just need to claim it”

Her past feelings of shame were instantly swallowed up, replaced by something hot and heavy. It rose up from her gut and threatened to consume her. It burnt and fizzed through her veins, leaving her face a dark crimson and planting the idea in her mind of just grabbing him by the cheeks and kissing him. But wouldn’t that be too much too soon? She needed time to sort herself out first, her own priorities and heart, she couldn’t just-

“...I’ve gone too far haven’t I? I’m sorry Lucy, I got too carried away in the moment and your praise. I just want you to be happy and if my company can make you happy, that’s enough. It’ll be enough forever if that’s what you desire”

He stepped back, creating more distance between them and pouring cold water on her inner flame. He was giving her time, he didn’t want to rush her and she would never be able to express how truly grateful that made her. She wasn’t even sure if these feelings were love or just a deep bond of friendship and trust. She needed space, she needed time and he easily granted her both. She was still young, still growing, there was plenty of time to find herself. For now…

“How about we just spend a snowy day inside together, under these lights you made, as best friends?”

“...Best friends?”

“I think you’ve earned that much, don’t you?”

He was back over to her in an instant, picking her up in a large hug, before gently placing her down. He didn’t break the hug however, rather he pulled her in close.

“Thank you Lucy, I’d love that. But this is concerning, just being labelled as a Best friend has given me enough energy to light up the street nevermind your house. You’re dangerous”

She snickered, giving in and allowing herself to indulge in hugging him back. She hugged her fellow guild members all the time, this was no different. 

“Or maybe you’re just too silly”

“Maybe”

The quiet moment of just keeping each other warm and safe on such a blistering day was unfortunately ruined by her, or rather, her stomach. It hadn’t eaten since yesterday and had decided that was the moment to make its protests known. Embarrassed by her stomach rumbling she broke away from him, expecting torment. But, surprisingly, he gave her a soft smile instead. 

“Is the lady of the house not feeding herself?”

“Well...It’s not like the oven is working at the moment. But no, I guess I forgot about breakfast with everything else going on”

“Well we can't have that, I’ll make you lunch”

“But you’ve already-”

“Do you have cookie cutters?”

That stopped her protests mid sentence as her brain restarted. It chugged along, trying to work out what he was up to. He seemed to have fully latched onto the idea of making her food, bouncing a little on his feet. He was way too eager to act so domestic, but maybe that’s where his so called pride lay. He really would make an overly doting husband if she let him.

“Yes, but the oven isn’t wo-”

“Festive sandwiches it is!”

He interrupted her with a shout, turning on his heel and rushing to the kitchen, plan already in motion and unable to be stopped. Just where did he get that energy? Just a minute ago he’d be tired out from creating the lights that still adorned her ceiling, but now he was bounding around in her kitchen, the loud noises confirming he was hastily searching her shelves. Had calling him her best friend really done that? It had only been the truth, he was one of her closest friends…

A loud crash followed by a sorry brought her out of her thoughts, sprinting to join him and prevent anymore trouble.

In the end they sat down to a large plate of mixed ‘festive’ sandwiches and a pitcher of juice with minimal casualties. Well, it did require him coming up with excuses as to why the different shapes were appropriate, some took much more inventive thinking than others, but it was entertaining to see him stumble through it. His company had brightened what had been looking to be an awful day and she’d completely forgotten about it. She didn’t even notice when the snow slowed down and eventually stopped in the evening until he’d mentioned it. By the stars she hadn’t even noticed it was evening, too invested in their attempts at playing different card and board games.

What she did notice however, despite how coy he may have thought he was, was a new light picture of a diamond, formed in the middle of the others. A symbol of her surrounded by her family, of those she could always rely on. Even when the nights got too cold, the days too long or she was feeling way too lonely, they would be there to support her through anything. She may have given him another hug for that.


End file.
